Chapter 439 Sacrifice

Keng turned in time to see what he was hearing. The large hand of the Cursed Dryad flew down at them, slamming into the ground like someone squishing a bug. Philip's eyes were shut. Fear had taken over as warm liquid spilled from above.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Philip's eyes opened, greeted by the wind. Keng was falling as blood fell off of his face.

? 'What just happened?' Philip asked himself. Keng's eyes were fixated on the Cursed Dryad. He looked like he was about to pass out. 'What did he do?'

The Cursed Dryad chuckled as she slammed her hands down at the spot, repeatedly. She screamed in another language Keng couldn't understand. Philip knew what she was screaming. She was enjoying their deaths.

Keng quietly landed on the ground and looked at Philip for a moment before dashing for the exit.

'What're you doing?!?' Philip asked him through telepathy. Keng didn't answer him. He continued to run as he pushed through the earthquakes.

[Notice: The Darkness has become too unbearable. Your Light has been devoured.]

Philip's form suddenly shifted from sustained to life threatening. Philip cried in pain as blood spilled. The Dryad reared her head towards the noises, following the tiny speck as it quickly made its way towards the exit.

"Nooo!" The Dryad shouted. The sea of thorns and vines washed over the exit, blocking it. Keng continued forward.

'How do I get the light back, thing?' Keng asked. 'How do I protect the one in my arms?!?' His head rang with his frustration as he slid to a stop. The sea of vines swarmed Keng and Philip. They seemed to swap at the spilled blood of Philip.

The AI voice didn't speak to him. The vines wrapped around Keng and Philip. It tried to rip them apart as Keng fought against it. Gravity exploded all around him as he fought an endless cycle of vines.

'What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?' Keng repeatedly asked himself. Philip weakily grabbed onto Keng's shirt as Keng kept him close in his arms.

'Don't… Panic…' Philip weakly told him. 'You can… get us… out… You can… Kill it…'

'I can't! I can't! I can't! It's too much!' Keng responded. His wild eyes looked at Philip for a moment before Philip smiled at him.

'I have one last… Trick up my sleeve…' Philip weakly told Keng. Philip's body began to glow a bright teal color. The light pierced through the purple darkness, ripping everything around him to shreds. Keng could feel the sheer force of sound and wind cutting him as he held onto Philip.

"To kill a Curse…" Philip weakly spoke. "You either eradicate it with light… Or eradicate it with a curse…" Keng's eyes grew wide.

"No! You cannot!" Keng protested loudly as the wind and sounds grew louder.

"I will… Kill it. Then you must kill me…" Philip continued. "Tell them… Tell my siblings I–"

"AHHHHHHHH!" The large Cursed Dryad shrieked as cuts flew all across her body.

"No, you can't. There has to be another way!"

"Your Light… It has faded, Keng… I will… Be the source of your light. I will…" Philip began to cough up blood. "I will not let this thing… Destroy my home… Kill my family… I won't!"

The teal energy whipped, pushing Keng away. Philip rose into the sky as his teal energy began to darken.

"Noooo!" Keng shouted. "Please don't, Philip! There has to be another way!"

"You will not… Kill anyone more, Curse. I… Philip Wang, son of Fan'r will complete my duty… I CURSE YOU TO YOUR DEATH, CURSE!!" The purple room lit up in pure teal light. Keng recoiled, attempting to block the light with his arms. The cries of the Cursed Dryad screeched. In a matter of seconds, the light died and the cries were no more.

"NOOOOO!!!" Keng cried.

The sound of music played as Lily, Bright and Winn watched the tree suddenly burst into pure light. The wood splintered and exploded. Bright and Winn took no time to react and shielded their sister from the shards.

"Argh!" Bright and Winn grunted. Teal light whooshed past them, blowing the Ire away. Keng fell onto the spot where the tree was, surrounded by shards. Ro'gal fell to his side, its form pulsing with teal energy as purple runes etched itself across it. Philp dropped on top of Keng with a loud thud.

"Argh!" Keng groaned as Philip landed on him. He quickly pulled himself up, checking Philip's vitals. There were so many holes in him. "Bare—" Purple runes began to etch themselves across his arms. "Shit. HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Keng's light flickered each time he tried to heal Philip. Bright, Winn and Lily came running.

"W-what the hell happened?!?" Bright asked, loudly. Lily immediately ran to the side and kneeled.

"Come on, Phi, it's gonna be okay." Lily panicked. She grabbed the floating ukulele and began to play her healing tune. She plucked fast, messing up as panic grew. "Come on, Phi, it'll be fine. It-it-it'll be f-fine!"

"Come on!" Keng shouted. His Light wasn't staying on too long for anything to take effect. Philip's breathing grew to an all time low as Keng shook his head. "Please! Please!" Tears streamed down Keng's face as he watched his Light fade.

"It's not working." Bright whispered to Winn. "What do we do?" Winn moved to kneel, wrapping his arms around his dying brother as Keng and Lily's tears fell onto him.

"I'm taking him back now. There has to be a healer around here!" Winn shouted, picking up his brother and sprinting towards the nearest Village entrance. Keng's body and legs were covered in Philip's blood. Ro'gal pulsed, faintly, as it sat next to him. Keng's hands shook as Bright grabbed his sister.

"Come on, you two. We have to go. It's not safe." Bright sternly told them. He lifted Lily, who was silently sobbing. Bright looked over at Keng. He stayed in his spot, staring at the blood.

"I shouldn't have done that." Keng whispered. "If I known you would fearlessly fight, I… I should've—"

"Come on. Let's go, Keng. He can still live if Winn gets to a healer in time." Bright lifted Keng's arm.

"No!" Keng pulled away. "I… I… I got him killed." Bright's expression darkened for a moment.

"You both didn't know what would happen in there. Let's go. We need to get you to a safe place." Bright grabbed Keng and forced him up onto his feet. Keng shook his head, taking a step back.

"I'm just a burden." Keng's voice blended with another voice. Bright grew confused as Lily looked up. It was Lee Seng's voice mixed with Keng's. "I killed him…. I'm just what he said. 'A monster.'"

"Keng!" Lily reached out to grab him. Keng turned and disappeared. Ro'gal and the splinters flew in different directions as she grabbed at the air. "Keng!" Bright's eyes went to the sword as it clattered along the ground. The sword was pulsing dark energy. It was scrawled with runes he hadn't seen before. Bright squatted and grabbed the sword. He held it as he stood back up, studying it.

"What happened?" Bright whispered.

"Bright, we should find him!" Lily told him. Bright shook his head. A dark feeling was growing within him. Something was clearly wrong with the sword. With Keng. With Philip.

"We're going to Phi. Come on." Bright turned, grabbing his sister's hand and pulling her away.

"But Keng!" Lily shouted.

Captiol City, Earth Realm

The telepad room flashed revealing Lee Seng. Lee Seng yawned as he stepped off of it and wandered over to the door. He pulled open the door and stepped out.

"You're early like usual." The Creator's voice spoke. Lee Seng shut the door behind him and turned to look at his Father. He was leaned up against the wall, phone in his hand as he scrolled the news. Lee Seng smiled and waved at the Creator.

"Dad, what're you doing here? I thought I was supposed to meet you at the usual spot." Lee Seng asked. The Creator stuffed his phone into his lab coat and turned to his son.

"You're early like your mother. I thought you'd show up around this time, so I decided to wait for you." The Creator replied. "Your old man can't wait for you?" He gave Lee Seng a grin as he wrapped an arm around him and pulled him along.

"Dad!" Lee Seng peeled himself off of the Creator. "I'm not a kid anymore. You don't need to do that every time!" The Creator picked up his pace and tried to wrap his arm around his son. Lee Seng dodged, giggling. "Stop it!"

"C'mon, Lee Seng, let your old man do it one last time!"

"I've heard that lie plenty of times! Stop!" Lee Seng backed into the hallway butting into an employee with equipment. The equipment began to fall when Lee Seng quickly stopped the fall with his gravity powers. "Oh, sorry!" Lee Seng turned around and began to collect the suspended items.

"Oh, young Chang, you're back for your check-up?" The employee asked.

"Yeah." Lee Seng nodded. He set the stuff into the employee's arms and bowed at them. "Sorry for that. My Dad's in a fun mood."

"A-ah." The employee nodded. They looked over at The Creator, who gave a nod and a wave, and nodded at him. "Well I should g-get on my way. Sir. Lee Seng." Lee Seng spun around to look at the Creator. He was looking at the employee, hands in pockets as his eyes re-focused on Lee Seng.

"Shall we?" The Creator motioned.

"We shall." Lee Seng smiled.